Month: November 2022

International standards for the protection of civilians, its adaptation to Ukrainian realities and the peculiarities of the Ukrainian protection standard were discussed at the educational training for officials, civil servants, employees of the State Emergency Service and social services in Khmelnytskyi by our professional trainers and consultants Maryna Turenok and Yulia Kostyuchenko.

“These are specialized modules for representatives of the authorities and services that respond to emergencies. During these two days, we built a clear plan of action and response to emergencies: with whom they should communicate, whom to involve in such cases, how to organize the process. All hromadas, without exception, at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, faced problems when they did not know whom to involve in resolving the situation. There should be joint activities of different services in solving such issues,” said Yulia Kostiuchenko, civil protection consultant at the Right to Protection CF, trainer and volunteer with 9 years of experience.

Yulia also shared real cases when it was necessary to provide assistance to affected civilians. At the training, the case of rescuing a girl from Mariupol who lost all her relatives was worked out in detail. The military and volunteers managed to take her from the occupied territory to a safe hromada.

💬”We have analyzed in detail how we can help this child, who to involve, what help to provide in the first place. In such cases, it is really necessary to involve medical specialists who conduct examinations, psychologists, police, because it is necessary to find the next of kin who could establish guardianship. These are difficult but real stories of people who need help from the community,” said Yulia.

The trainings were held within the framework of the project “Preparedness and Stabilization in Central and Western Ukraine” implemented by the Right to Protection CF together with the NGO ACTED Ukraine and the IMPACT initiative and funded by the UK from the British people.

DRR #UKaid #CivilProtection #ACTED #IMPACT #ProtectionMainstreaming

To update knowledge on civil protection and organization of evacuation activities, in especially in social institutions for persons with disabilities and the elderly – this was the goal of educational trainings from experts of the Right to Protection, which took place this week with representatives of the authorities in Vinnytsia, in particular the Regional and District Departments of Social Protection, the Service for Children at the regional and district levels, the State Emergency Service and the Center for Social Services.

A few months earlier, consultants of the “Preparedness and Stabilization in Central and Western Ukraine” project of the Right to Protection were able to evaluate the accessibility and inclusiveness of social institutions in Vinnytsia region, as well as the safety of using protective facilities in these institutions. Maryna Turenok, project expert, had the opportunity to share her experience in this area at a meeting with officials.

The participants of the training received practical recommendations on organizational and legal support of civilians during crisis situations and improvement of emergency response capabilities of the authorities.

“We set ourselves the task of familiarizing the participants of the training in detail with the basic principles and standards of international humanitarian law, the work of international organizations and cluster systems that provide assistance to civilians during emergencies and armed conflicts, including those operating in Ukraine. And also to talk about humanitarian standards for the protection of children, women, the elderly and persons with disabilities, for their implementation during an emergency or humanitarian crisis or armed conflict”, – says Yulia Kostyuchenko, project trainer of the Found.

The project “Preparedness and Stabilization in Central and Western Ukraine” is implemented by the Right to Protection CF together with the NGO ACTED Ukraine and the IMPACT initiative and is funded by the UK from the British people.

#DRR #UKaid #CivilProtection #ACTED #IMPACT #ProtectionMainstreaming

Last week turned out to be busy for our organization for international work meetings. Yes, our advocacy coordinator Tetiana Luzan visited Washington. There, she took part in a gathering of employees on issues of international policy, advocacy, communications, and the involvement of the Jewish community, organized by the foundation’s long-standing partners, which started the existence of the BF “Right to Protection” in Ukraine – HIAS.

Tetyana Luzan met with representatives of civil society in the USA, and also talked with representatives of congressmen’s offices specializing in issues related to Ukraine. She talked about the work of the fund in the conditions of a full-scale invasion, the directions of our activities and the main problems that our colleagues are working on solving within the framework of the projects implemented by the fund.

I drew attention to the issue of housing for immigrants. Thus, in September, the government of Ukraine approved a special simplified procedure for providing housing for temporary use to displaced persons and persons whose housing was destroyed using the funds of humanitarian and other aid.

“Ukrainian legislation provides for the possibility of providing IDPs with temporary housing for a period of up to one year, with the possibility of further extension. Such housing is provided at the expense of special housing funds created for these purposes by local self-government bodies. However, in the absence of such premises, as well as financial resources for their construction, reconstruction or acquisition, which may be necessary for the formation of such funds, local authorities may not be able to provide IDPs with temporary housing. As an option, it can be financed by international donors”, – noted Tetiana Luzan.

The meetings also discussed the issue of providing psychological assistance to Ukrainians and the need for psychosocial support. Currently, such support is often provided by humanitarian organizations, where there are experts who specialize in psychological trauma caused, for example, by military conflicts. However, their number is not sufficient to provide assistance to all who need it.

We are glad that we were able to talk about the problems of Ukrainians at such a high level. We are sure, that this will speed up the resolution of certain issues and help us to help people even more!

Thank you to HIAS for the invitation and high evaluation of our work.